A breathtaking scene only witnessed in movies like Speed and the Fast and Furious series took place on an expressway in China on the night of March 14, 2018, as a C-class Mercedes-Benz on cruise mode suddenly became uncontrollable and reached a speed of 120 km/h for almost an hour before successfully being stopped.

Driver Xue from central China’s Henan Province initiated the cruise mode on his Mercedes-Benz after 8 pm en route to southwest China’s Chengdu City for a meeting.

However, when he tried to manually drive the car, the system would not work properly. The car began driving at a speed of 120 kilometers. 

Mercedes-Benz after-sale technicians failed to provide any effective advice to the driver, which includes pulling up the handbrake, cutting off the power and shifting to neutral gear. Out of despair, Xue called the police and road administration at 9:35 pm.

Police in Sanmenxia City in Henan Province immediately informed all toll gates along the route about the urgent situation, with control measures taken to reduce traffic on the road. 

At the same time, authorities at the toll gate bordering Henan and Shaanxi Province quickly cleared three lanes and opened all blockades to allow the wild car to pass.

The car safely passed the toll gate in less than a minute at 10:25 pm, according to video captured by surveillance camera.

Previous reports suggested the car was safely pulled over later by Benz technicians through a backstage system, but Xue denied the claim, “I decided to jump out of the car so I opened the door and unfastened my seatbelt, then it slowed down. When I closed the door, the speed picked up again. It slowed down to 40 km/h later when I opened the door with my seatbelt unbuckled. They never controlled my car through any system,” according to btime.com affiliated to Beijing Television.

As a former amateur racer, Xue told China News Service that he is grateful to the police, “It was the police who saved my life. I will thank them on my way back. I will pay my road toll and compensate for the barrier that I broke.”

Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz on Friday night responded that they attach great importance to the incident, "product quality and safety is always the utmost foundation for any brand. We will conduct a thorough investigation and clear the public's doubts and concerns,"  the statement said.